The outstanding son of Muong Khoong land

During the Le Dynasty's Restoration, Ha Tho Loc was a brave general who fought and died for the Le Dynasty, devoted himself to assisting and achieving many great achievements, and was trusted and respected by King Le and Lord Trinh. The heroic military career of Thai Uy Ha Tho Loc, an excellent son of Muong Khoong (Ba Thuoc district) will forever be recorded in history.

Thai Uy Ha Tho Loc: An excellent son of Muong Khoong land Co Lung in Muong Khoong was the hometown of Thai Uy Ha Tho Loc (In photo: A corner of the village in Co Lung). Photo: Trang Bui

Co Lung belongs to ancient Muong Khoong, an ancient land with the name Kenh Long - the place that marked the historical event in Lam Son uprising - Kenh Long victory. Thai people in Muong Khoong also believe that this land hid Le Duy Ninh, aka King Le Trang Tong - the first king of the Le Trung Hung dynasty.

When Mac Dang Dung usurped the throne of the Le Dynasty, in the early days of the Trung Hung period, Nguyen Kim and Trinh Kiem relied on Muong Khoong land to build a base to attack the Mac Dynasty. At that time, the Muong Khoong mandarin Ha Nhan Chinh, with his prestige, helped Nguyen Kim and Trinh Kiem meet and connect with the chieftains in Muong Ha, Muong Sang, Muong La... to concentrate their forces. Later, Ha Nhan Chinh was appointed to the position of Tu Do and the title of Thuy Quan Cong.

Ha Tho Loc - son of Ha Nhan Chinh, soon followed his father's will, followed Trinh dynasty to "support Le dynasty to destroy Mac dynasty", and made many great achievements. He followed Trinh Kiem to fight against Mac dynasty, regardless of danger. When Trinh Kiem passed away, Trinh Coi and Trinh Tung fought for power, causing confusion in the army. At that time, Ha Tho Loc and generals Hoang Dinh Ai, Nguyen Huu Lieu... followed Trinh Tung and together swore to fight against Mac dynasty.

The book "Geography of Ba Thuoc district" wrote: "In the year Canh Ngo (1570), the king appointed Trinh Tung as the Chief of the District. Trinh Tung gathered the generals and held a banquet to comfort the soldiers... Tay Hung Marquis Ha Tho Loc and 30 generals and civil servants all swore to heaven, united their hearts and joined forces, day and night discussed plans to fight the enemy, divided the army to occupy the gates of the ramparts of the regions, dug trenches and built ramparts, set up ambushes to guard the dangerous places, and guarded against the Mac army. In September of that year, the king appointed Tay Hung Marquis Ha Tho Loc to lead the army to guard Ai rampart (Cam Thuy) to replace Ha Khe Marquis who had betrayed him."

In 1573, the Mac Dynasty sent troops to attack Thanh Hoa. Ha Tho Loc and his generals went to fight, and the Mac army was repelled. During these years, with his talent in battle, Ha Tho Loc made an important contribution to the Le - Trinh army to keep Thanh Hoa land, causing the Mac Dynasty to suffer losses every time they sent troops to attack.

In the year of Tan Ty (1581), Mac general Nguyen Quyen led his army to attack Duong Nang. Ha Tho Loc led the Left Army to fight back and stopped the Mac army. With this achievement, he was appointed as Tu Ma.

After a period of raising troops and waiting for the right time, in the year of Tan Mao (1591), comparing the relative strength of the Le - Trinh army, the people's hearts turned towards the restoration of the Le dynasty and wished to soon end the war between the North and South dynasties. "Trinh Tung firmly grasped that the country's fate was favorable to the Le dynasty, so he ordered Dien Quan Cong Trinh Van Hai; Thai Quan Cong Nguyen That Ly to lead troops to guard the seaports and dangerous places. He ordered Tho Quan Cong Le Hoa to stay behind to guard the royal palace, the Van Lai - Yen Truong citadel and to look after the entire Thanh Hoa region... Trinh Tung mobilized a large force of up to 50,000 troops, divided into 5 groups: assigned to Thai Pho Nguyen Huu Lieu, Thai Uy Hoang Dinh Ai, Lan Quan Cong Ha Tho Loc, The Quan Cong Ngo Canh Huu... to lead the groups. Trinh Tung himself led the army as a general, leading 20,000 troops straight to Thien Quan gate to attack the Mac dynasty" (book Kinh Do Van Lai - Yen Truong).

During this attack, Ha Tho Loc and Ngo Canh Huu led 10,000 troops carrying food (the 5th army), met Mac's army in Phan Thuong and defeated them. In the year Quy Ty (1593), the Mac dynasty was defeated, King Le returned to Thang Long. General Ha Tho Loc was appointed as Lieutenant, assigned to guard Thanh Hoa. In 1599, Lieutenant Lan Quan Cong Ha Tho Loc died while guarding Thanh land. Mourning the talented general, King Le - Lord Trinh posthumously awarded him the title of Grand Lieutenant.

Commenting on Thai Uy Ha Tho Loc, historian Phan Huy Chu in the book "Historical Records of Dynasties", stated that he was a simple, honest, hardworking, careful, loyal, intelligent, brave, knew how to comment, practiced literature and helped the king with his father Nhan Chinh, endured all dangers, and made many contributions...

As a brave general who restored the Le Dynasty, Thai Uy Ha Tho Loc is the pride of the people of Muong Khoong in particular and the ethnic minorities in Thanh Hoa in general. His name is mentioned along with many famous generals of the same period such as Hoang Dinh Ai, Lai The Khanh... "Thanh Hoa is the base area for the Le - Trinh faction to establish a separate country, confronting the Mac Dynasty. The Trinh lords such as Trinh Kiem, Trinh Tung selected many generals who were both strong and had good staff and command skills such as Hoang Dinh Ai, Lai The Khanh... all of whom were famous generals. There were also people from the mountains like Ha Tho Loc, whose whole family were loyal, righteous, intelligent and brave generals" (according to the book Dia chi Huyen Ba Thuoc). After Thai Uy Ha Tho Loc passed away, his children enjoyed the "blessings" of their father, many generations were assigned to guard the Muong Khoong - Co Lung region.

As someone who is knowledgeable about ancient Thai script and the history of Muong Khoong, researcher Ha Nam Ninh said: “According to the ancient Thai script book about Muong Khoong currently being preserved, after his death, Thai Uy Ha Tho Loc could have been buried in Sanh village, now in Vinh Thinh commune (Vinh Loc district) - near Bien Thuong village where the Trinh lords were worshiped. His entire military career and official career were closely linked to the Le Dynasty's restoration, and he was especially loved by Lord Trinh Tung, who bestowed many favors upon him. When he was the governor of Thanh land, Thai Uy Ha Tho Loc brought the descendants of the Ha family from Co Lung area to live here. Today, the Ha family in Sanh village is quite crowded.”

Also according to Ha Nam Ninh cultural researcher, from the content recorded in ancient books of the Thai people, later generations know that, along with a part of the Ha family in Sanh village (Vinh Loc), Co Lung land is still the hometown of Thai Uy Ha Tho Loc. Therefore, after his death, he was worshiped by the people at the Muong Khoong Palace House. The Palace House was the place where King Le and the mandarins used to discuss military affairs during the years of "hiding" in Muong Khoong land. After the successful Restoration, the Palace House was built as a place to worship King Le and the Thai mandarins who had assisted him, including Mr. Ha Nhan Chinh and Ha Tho Loc. Unfortunately, over time, the Palace House and the Muong Khoong festival no longer exist. However, when mentioning the brave general Ha Tho Loc, the Thai people in Muong Khoong always feel proud and remember...

Trang Bui

(The article refers to and uses some content in the books of Ba Thuoc District Geography and Van Lai - Yen Truong Capital).

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